I am very particular about oatmeal cookies. I only like them if they have a really chewy texture; and I am not too fond of cakey oatmeal cookies. Luckily, I found a great recipe that, with some of my changes, delivered exactly what I was looking for! Not only did I get my thick and chewy cookies, they also turned out to be low fat, using only 2 tablespoons of oil for 30 cookies, with banana and yogurt substituting for the rest of the fat. As though that was not good enough, I also added in some chocolate chips! So, please meet these most wonderful, very thick and chewy banana oatmeal cookies with chocolate chips! They are so thick, they even look super tall when I stack them up, one on top of the other:

What makes these cookies so chewy and thick? First of all, I am using old-fashioned (or rolled) oats, and NOT quick or instant oats. Using old-fashioned oats will always produce a chewier texture, while if you use quick or instant oats, your oatmeal cookies will be too soft, almost cake-lake, and flat.

I am also using banana and yogurt to substitute for what otherwise would have to be butter or oil, and that also adds some chewiness and creates this nice sticky texture: the cookies taste like there is a touch of honey in them! Stuffed with chocolate chips, these cookies are quickly becoming my new favorite!

It’s also important to chill the dough for about an hour before you bake the cookies, as that will also help the cookies to remain thick as they bake. Overall, this is a very successful cookie recipe, and I am very happy with it! If you like thick and chewy oatmeal cookies – this is the recipe for you!

Important note about properly measuring flour using measuring cups:The proper way to measure flour using measuring cups is to aerate it first. This is done either by sifting flour, or aerating it by fluffing it up and whisking it well, then spooning it into the measuring cup, then carefully removing any excess flour with a knife. If you just stick that measuring cup in the bag of flour and scoop some out, you will get a lot more flour than what the recipe calls for. Do aerate the flour, or you will end up with dry dough! :)

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees F. In a large bowl, combine together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt.

In a separate bowl, mash the banana. Add the egg, oil, brown and granulated sugars, yogurt, and vanilla and whisk to combine.

Add the banana-egg mixture to the flour mixture and stir until just combined. Fold in the oats, then fold in the chocolate chips.

Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Take a tablespoon of dough, form a ball and drop the cookie dough ball on the prepared baking sheet. Repeat, spacing the cookie dough balls about 2 inches apart. At this point, I would refrigerate baking sheets with cookie dough balls for about an hour to chill the dough. This will ensure that cookies, when baked, will not flatten out, and that they will remain tall, so that we end up with thick and chewy cookies!

Bake for 12 minutes until cookies are slightly golden brown. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheets for 5 minutes, then transfer to wire racks to cool completely.

Oooooh, how lovely! Low-fat and a good source of low-GI energy, flavonoids from the chocolate as well as potassium from the bananas all wrapped in one delicious bundle! They’re practically a health-food I think Mr VP would like these, too, so I will have to give them a go when I get the chance. Yum!

I am with you on oatmeal cookies having to be chewy! These cookies look chewy and delish, and normally I don’t like to mess with replacing fat in cookies, but in this case I don’t think I’d be missing the fat at all!

Made these today and they are fabulous! I did put them in the fridge first as suggested.The only thing is that in the instructions there is vanilla added to the banana mixture but I do not see it in the ingredients list. No prob – I just put in a splash but would like to know what the recipe calls for. I will be making these often. Thanks Julia!

Yes, I did forget to include vanilla in the ingredients list! Thanks for catching! Corrected the recipe. Oh yes, these cookies are very tasty: they are quite crunchy and sticky, which is how I like oatmeal cookies to be.

You can substitute 1/4 teaspoon of table salt for 1/2 teaspoon of kosher salt in this recipe. Because of the differences in texture and volume, table salt is more salty than kosher salt, so just make sure to use LESS of table salt than what the recipe calls for here.

I’m so sorry, but this was such a bad recipe. I pride myself in baking well, but I simply couldn’t eat it. There wasn’t a single comment here that mentioned how well they turned out; rather how great they look. Well… they didn’t taste good at all.

Cindy, I heated them up in a microwave because I didn’t have time to take photos of them right after I’ve baked them (which is when they look their best because the chocolate is naturally melty when they are fresh out of the oven).

Thank you so much for sharing this!
They are delicious. I used a 90% dark chocolate bar instead of chocolate chips, but ’cause of a time crunch I didn’t get to have the one hour rest period in the fridge, so they have the tendency to easily fall apart. I’m sure this step makes the world of a difference. I will absolutely make again, but making sure I put them in the fridge first.!

Hi Kaity – thanks for stopping by! Glad you liked the cookies! Yes, cooling the cookies ensures they don’t flatten out much. Did you use old-fashioned oats too? I made these with both types of oats, and the results were quite different in both cases, texture-wise. Quick oats made a flatter softer cookie. Old-fashioned oats resulted in the cookies you see in the photos!

These look amazing! Can’t wait to try them.
Any ideas on substitue for the yogurt? We have a dairy allergy and I’d like to not have to go to a specialty store to get soy/almond yogurt. Would extra banana work well? Or maybe applesauce?

Applesauce will work great – applesauce oatmeal cookies are always delicious! Extra banana might work too but it will have to be really-really ripe – black on the outside and falling apart on the inside. If you don’t have such banana, just use applesauce to be safe.

Yes, you can – I did! It’s just the cookies will be too soft, almost cake-lake, and flat if you use quick or instant oats, but still very delicious and eatable – I ate them all! With old-fashioned oats, you’ll get a taller, crunchier cookie.

These should freeze well, unbaked, raw. I’ve frozen these short-term (right before baking) so that they turn out taller. So, freezing these while unbaked and keeping them in an air-tight container or plastic bag should work just fine, I am pretty sure.

I made these for out 4th of July Barbeque and they were good! I substituted sour cream for yogurt because that was what I had available. I could not fit cookie sheets in my fridge with all the other party foods in there, so I chilled the dough in a bowl in the fridge for one hour and the cookies were thick, moist and chewy as advertised!

Thank you! So glad you liked the cookies. Good to know that cranberries worked well! To substitute sugar for honey, you just do 1 cup for 1 cup, in this case just use 1 cup of honey to replace all the sugar. You might have to reduce the amount of Greek yogurt by half (use 2 tablespoons instead of 1/4 cup), or add a couple of tablespoons more flour or oats. Here is a good article on this subject: http://www.cooks.com/recipe/4516i4d5/substituting-honey-for-sugar.html

I sent my boyfriend to the store to get yogurt or sour cream. He forgot it. So, I used the oil amount in recipe, and added 1/3 cup coconut oil. It’s all I had. I also added 3 tablespoons of crunchy peanut butter, and one extra small banana. I also only used 3/4 cup of brown sugar since I added extra banana. Banana chocolate peanut deliciousness!

Hi Julia, these cookies look amazingly delicious! All I want to know is can you taste the banana?? I adore oatmeal cookies AND anything with banana. I hope to make these today or tomorrow but really want the banana flavor to shine. Thanks in advance. I love reading your blog, great recipes!!

Just made these cookies! I made half of the cookies with raisins and the other half with mini chocolate chips. This is a great recipe and I will be using it often. Oatmeal cookies are my husband’s favorite and I have been looking through lots of recipes to find a healthier version and I like this one. I used coconut oil. I was eager to try this particular recipe bc of the use of yogurt! Yummy cookies! Thank you for sharing!